The Quest for Healthy Savings and a Healthy Lifestyle

What I Did This Week to Save Money – Oct 5

Well, it has been an interesting week, to be sure. My 8 year old’s comment on the Federal Shutdown: “Do they even REALIZE what they are doing to the American people?!” Can I get an ‘Amen?’

So, with questions about when my husband will be paid, and for which days, we did the following this week:

Daughter brought home the catalog for the Scholastic book sale at school. Had her mark some titles she was interested in and I requested them from the library. When I wish to do something charitable for the school I prefer to make a tax-deductible donation rather than participate in a fundraiser. The books should be in at the library even before the sale starts.

Husband used his furlough day to get a free haircut at a new SportClips place in our neighborhood. He had a good experience and liked the cut as much or better than his usual higher-priced stylist.

We are entertaining during an NFL (football) game tomorrow, and I worked out a menu that takes advantage of some ingredients we already have on hand. I am planning a quesadilla bar, Pioneer Woman’s restaurant-style salsa, and a Halloween-ish cake.

Yes, exactly! If I buy something at the book fair the school sees maybe $ 5.00… whereas I have no problem planning to donate to the school’s foundation $ 25.00 or more, and they get the full benefit. I don’t need any gift wrap, either, thank you very much!

At my prior employer we had a “don’t buy, don’t ask” policy. If you opted to not buy the stuff your coworkers’ kids’ were selling, that prohibited you from peddling your kid’s fundraisers at a later date. Works for me!

I don’t really buy things from fundraisers either, with one exception, the chocolates I sell for my band. I usually buy about half of them and then sell the other half at work. But I love chocolate and would be buying it (or making it) anyway.

We just attended the first classmate birthday party at our son’s new school — which was totally awesome BTW — and it got my head spinning thinking about how much is the right amount to spend on a gift. Any advice HS?!

Well, I can only speak personally. For little kids, say kindergarten, I would go 10-15.00. Older kids usually go to fewer parties and have closer relationships with the party host, so I would go 15.00-20.00. That’s what I am comfortable with.